The Juniors took on Terenure College in the semi final of this year’s Leinster Schools Junior Cup at Donnybrook last Thursday. Seeing as it was a day off for Newbridge College, in was breathtaking to see the large crowd who showed up to cheer our boys on. We started well and showed no fear taking on one of the Leinster Schools’ rugby big guns. And we had the first opportunity to score but Gavin Burke pulled his penalty attempt to the left of then posts. We kept the pressure on though and when Jimmy O’Brien found some space, he took a gap before releasing Ruairi Cleary to score a great try. Burke made no mistake with the conversion from a much more difficut position than the penalty had been. Terenure came right back into the game with a well taken penalty of their own and then tired to turn the screw on Newbridge. But we defended very well with Pa Morrin, Paul Condon and Oisin Larkin putting their bodies on the line to stamp out the Terneure threat. Half time 7 3.

In the second half we upped our own performance levels too. O’Brien was pulling the strings and Ciaran Callan, Tom O’Neill, Mark Delaney and Rob Buckley all made excellent breaks. After a long kick and chase downfield we forced a scrum in a good attacking position. From the base Callan made excellent ground before Jake Howlett burst through the defensive line to score. Burke again converted to give us a 14 3 lead with 10 minutes to go. We were playing well now and man of the match Rob Buckley was stopping any attack on the gain line with some massive tackling. Terenure never looked like they would threaten our line and we held on to book a place in the Junior Cup final for the first time in 15 years. Awaiting us there are St Michael’s College who knocked us out at the semi final stage last year.

Junior Cup 1st XV: 1. Mike Doyle 2. Tom O’Neill 3. Oisin Larkin 4. Paul Condon 5. Patrick Morrin 6. Oisin Kelly 7. Luke Menton 8. Ciaran Callan 9. Mark Delaney 10. Jimmy O’ Brien 11. James Healy 12. Rob Buckley 13. Jake Howlett 14.Gavin Burke 15. Ruairi Cleary Replacements: Connor Johnson, Nic Pearson Buffoni, Donal Delahunt, Aubrey O’Mahony, Liam Farrell, Ian Caffrey and Will McDonald

February 7th - Carlow - Newbridge vs Cistercian College, Roscrea

The long awaited Junior Cup day finally arrived! Newbridge were all set to rectify the wrong of being defeated in the Junior League semi final to the same opposition back in December. The conditions were good for rugby - mild breeze, dry day and solid enough underfoot. The game was always going to be close and it wasn’t until the middle of the 2nd half, that Newbridge could be somewhat confident of the win. Gavin Burke got the first points on the board with a well taken penalty. A little while later, James Healy scored a a try in the corner following a great team effort to create the overlap on the wing. Roscrea responded not too long after with a try in the corner, but just before half time, Jake Howlett scored under the posts. The half time score: Newbridge – 13, Roscrea – 5. Roscrea started the second half better and a little bit of lax defence led to a try in the corner, which was converted to leave the minimum between the sides. The pack who had played well right throughout the game kept driving on, from either runners off Mark (scrum half) or pick and goes. They’re competence in the ruck along with aggressive running by the likes of Rob Buckley and Jake Howlett in the centre and Ruairi at full back ensured the pressure remained on the Roscrea defence. This pressure was turned into points when Mark Delaney and Jimmy O’Brien scored tries in the latter stages of the 2nd half. Both were converted by Gavin Burke. Final score: Newbridge – 27, Roscrea – 12. Newbridge now play St Mary’s College in the quarter final on the 1st of March.

Junior Cup 1st XV: 1. Mike Doyle 2. Tom O’Neill 3. Oisin Larkin 4. Paul Condon 5. Patrick Morrin 6. Oisin Kelly 7. Luke Menton 8. Ciaran Callan 9. Mark Delaney 10. Jimmy O’ Brien 11. James Healy 12. Rob Buckley 13. Jake Howlett 14.Gavin Burke 15. Ruairi Cleary Replacements (all used) : Connor Johnson, Nic Pearson Buffoni, Donal Delahunt, Brian Larkin, Tom Berney, Ian Caffrey and Will McDonald

March 1st - Anglesea Road - Newbridge vs St. Marys

The Juniors faced St Mary's College in the Junior Cup quarter finals on Thursday after a long wait since their first game against Roscrea. Training during that period had gone well but there is no replacement for the real thing and the lads were raring to go come kick off time. The early exchanges were ferocious with both teams trying to grab the upper hand. We were guilty of a few silly penalties early on which meant we had to defend in our 22 on three separate occasions. Thankfully we managed to keep our line in tact with Tom O'Neill, Paul Condon and Oisin Larkin in great tackling form. When we did get into scoring range, we retained the ball well but we still gave away a few unnecessary penalties. However, off a lineout we split Mary's wide open and outhalf Jimmy O'Brien ran clear to score a great try. Gavin Burke knocked over the conversion for a 7:0 lead. Just before half time we doubled our lead when good backline defence saw us turn over the ball on halfway. We kept the ball alive and Jake Howlett finished off with a try in the corner. Burke drained the conversion which was on his wrong side and from way out on the touchline. Halftime 14:0 to Newbridge
The second half was a different game with St Mary's using the wind advantage very well. We were pinned back in our own 22 and were finding it very difficult to get out. Ciaran Callan was immense in his ball carrying while our back three of Burke, Ruairi Cleary and James Healy were excellent under the high ball. We conceeded a try midway through the half which brought the score to 14:5, and then with 5 to go it was game on when St Mary's broke clear from their own 22 to score a great try which they converted for 14:12. While we conceeded two tries we still felt like the game was ours for the taking and we went on the offensive to keep the ball away from our line. Finally after a St Mary's knock on, we kicked the ball out of play for what was overall a derserved victory. We now face Terenure College in the Junior Cup semi-final on Thursday 15th March in Donnybrook at 3pm.

Junior Cup 1st XV: 1. Mike Doyle 2. Tom O’Neill 3. Oisin Larkin 4. Paul Condon 5. Patrick Morrin 6. Oisin Kelly 7. Luke Menton 8. Ciaran Callan 9. Mark Delaney 10. Jimmy O’ Brien 11. James Healy 12. Rob Buckley 13. Jake Howlett 14.Gavin Burke 15. Ruairi Cleary Replacements (all used) : Connor Johnson, Nic Pearson Buffoni, Donal Delahunt, Aubrey O’Mahony, Tom Berney, Ian Caffrey and Will McDonald

Newbridge College Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Republic of Ireland Tel: +353 45 487200 Fax: +353 45 487234 Email: info@newbridge-college.ie